


Wake Up Call

by Lola99



Series: The Commander and The Champion [4]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-10-29
Packaged: 2018-02-23 01:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2529671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lola99/pseuds/Lola99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A modern day AU featuring my favorite crossover OTP, Garrett Hawke and John Shepard.  Based off a tumblr post about a fire alarm going off at 3am and finding the cute guy from next door standing outside in his underwear. ;~)  Silly and fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wake Up Call

John Shepard let himself into his apartment, wearily throwing his keys on the table and his coat across the back of the recliner.  It was almost three in the morning and he’d just finished his shift at The Normandy, the nightclub where he worked as a bouncer.  It had been a crazy night, John was exhausted, and he had class in six hours.  He didn’t even stop to brush his teeth or wash his face before stripping down to his boxers and collapsing face-first into his bed.

He fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.  So deep in fact, that he wasn’t sure how long the fire alarm had been going off before it finally roused him . Swearing, he ran to his window and looked down.  Several of his neighbors were already down in the alley, which confirmed his suspicion that the alarm had been going off for a while before he’d heard it.

He quickly made his way out the front door, and down the stairs to the exit.  It wasn’t until he was setting his bare feet on cold pavement that he realized he was still in his boxers-and nothing else.  Well, nothing for it now.  Of course, it was late October in Chicago and it was not even remotely warm outside.  Fuck, he hoped this was just someone’s really bad idea of a prank and they would be back inside before he had a chance to realize exactly how cold it was.

He made his way towards the open end of the alley, and cursed again when the one person he didn’t want to see caught his eye.  Praying that the other man wouldn’t notice him, he started to head in a different direction when his name was called out.   _Shit_.  Forcing a smile to his face, he turned and headed back towards the other man.

John had only moved into the building a month ago, and he hadn’t met anyone except the man that lived directly across the hall from him, Garrett Hawke.  He hadn’t been hoping to avoid him because he didn’t like him.  Quite the opposite in fact.  He prayed the lighting was bad enough as to hide the deep blush he could feel spreading across his face.  Garrett Hawke had been the object of his fantasies since he’d first seen him in the hallway, and now here he was talking to him in nothing but his underwear.  Could this night get any worse?

“Hey, John!”

“Hi Garrett.”

“I was looking for you, and was a little worried when I didn’t see you.”

John rubbed the back of his neck and gave a sheepish smile.  “Yeah, I guess I was sleeping pretty hard.”

“I’d say.  That alarm is pretty annoying.”

“You know anything yet?  Is there actually a fire or is someone just messing around?”

“I haven’t seen anything.  Probably someone coming home from the bar and thought it would be funny.”

John nodded.  They were both students at the University, as were the majority of the people who lived in their building.  As was typical within the college community, there was vastly different levels of maturity amongst the residents.  This was the second time since he’d moved in that the fire alarm had gone off.  The last time he hadn’t been sound asleep and in his underwear, though.

A fact that he was reminded of as the cold bit into him and he shivered.  Damn it!  He’d grown up in southern California and he was still getting used to the colder weather here.

As if reading his mind Garrett spoke in a teasing tone, “You look like you’re freezing, John.  You still need to get used to these upper midwest winters before you start running around in your shorts in the middle of the night.”

John wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.  When it didn’t, he figured he had to respond.

“Yeah...didn’t really stop to think until I was on the ground.”

“Here.  Take my jacket.”  

“Oh, no.  I couldn’t-”

“Nonsense.”  Garrett removed his jacket and handed it over.  “I much more used to the cold than you are.  Take it.  Just for a bit.”

As he reluctantly took the jacket, he realized that Garrett was now standing there in only his boxers.  Well, that helped him feel a little better.  

Until the other man cleared his throat and he realized he’d been staring.

“Uh...thanks.”

“No problem.”  Garrett flashed a grin.  “Like I said, I’m much more used to this.  I grabbed the jacket more out of modesty than anything else.”

“So did you grow up around here?”

“Just a few hours north, in Wisconsin.”

“So what brought you to Chicago?”

“We actually moved while I was still in high school.  My mom grew up around here and after my dad died, she wanted to go back to her roots.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry.”

Garrett shrugged.  “It was eight years ago.  I still miss him sometimes, but it’s okay.”

They fell into an awkward silence.  John kept hoping that any second now he’d wake up from what was surely an exhaustion-induced dream.

“So did you work tonight?”  Garrett’s voice broke into the silence, and any fleeting hope of this being a dream vanished.

“Yeah.  It was a pretty wild night.  Probably why I was so tired.”

“So, how does someone end up being a bouncer?”

“I...I guess I just sort of fell into it.”

Garrett tilted his head.  “How do you mean?”  
John hesitated.  How much of his past did he really want to share?  He finally decided that he’d already made an ass out of himself and it couldn’t get much worse by being honest.

“I pretty much grew up on the streets and ran with a fairly rough crowd for a while.  Luckily there was a guy in the neighborhood, David, who saw me as more than the punk I acted like.  He helped get me get onto a different path and earn my GED.  Became sort of a mentor for me.  So when he came to Chicago to open up The Normandy, I saw an opportunity.  I had a fairly limited skill set, but it was useful with rowdy, drunk people.  I talked him into letting me come with.  I lived with him until I saved enough to go out on my own and enroll in college.”

“I thought you said you only moved here a year ago.”

“I did.”

“Wow.  You accomplished your goal in less than a year.  That’s pretty impressive, John.”

He shrugged.  “I found financial aid programs and applied for every scholarship I could.  I already got a late start.  Didn’t really want to waste any more time if I could help it.”

“Still.”  Garrett gave him a warm smile that made his stomach flip.  “David must be proud of you.”

“I hope so.”

“I’m su-”

Garrett’s reply was cut off as a firefighter came over to let them know that the building had been cleared and it was safe to back inside.  They made their way through the front doors and up the stairs with the rest of the crowd, getting out on the third floor.  After they said a brief goodbye in the hallway John made his way into his apartment and closed the door.

He was almost to his bedroom before he realized that he still had Garrett’s jacket.  He started back towards the front of his apartment with the intention of returning it, when he was stopped by a knock on his own front door.  When he opened the door, Garrett greeted him with a grin.

John opened his mouth to say something about the jacket, but Garrett spoke first.

“John, will you have coffee with me tomorrow?”

“I…”

“And just to be clear, I _do_ mean like a date.”

“I would like that.  Yes.”

“Are you free around three o’clock?”

“Yes,” John repeated.

“It’s a date then.  I’m looking forward to it.  Now I’ll let you sleep.”

John was frozen as Garrett leaned in, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before saying goodnight and turning back into his own apartment.  But then he remembered the jacket in his hand.  

“Garrett, wait.”

The other man turned.  “Yes?”

“Here.”  John held out the jacket.  “You forgot this.”

“Oh, thanks.”

When Garrett reached to take the jacket from him, John could swear he felt a spark jump between their fingers.  

At least that was his excuse when he reflected later on what he did next.  With a sudden burst of confidence, he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips against Garrett’s.  It was brief, but he was strangely satisfied with the look of shock on the other man’s face when he pulled back.

“See you tomorrow, Garrett.”

John Shepard walked back into his apartment with a new spring in his step.  He plopped back into his bed and fell asleep with a smile on his face.


End file.
